Jahmyr Gibbs hopes for an improved Week 2 effort, De’Von Achane ponders putting the Dolphins’ offense on his back, and Travis Etienne readies for increased fantasy expectations.
Other positions: Quarterback | Receiver | Tight End/Kickers/Defense
Updated 9/13 at 6:00 PM ET. Added Quinshon Judkins. Still not entirely sure what to do there. Will make final decision late Sunday morning.
Week 2 Running Backs
| 1 | Saquon Barkley | PHI | @KC |
| 2 | Christian McCaffrey | SF | @NO |
| 3 | Jahmyr Gibbs | DET | CHI |
| 4 | Derrick Henry | BAL | CLE |
| 5 | Bijan Robinson | ATL | @MIN |
| 6 | Bucky Irving | TB | @HOU |
| 7 | Chase Brown | CIN | JAX |
| 8 | Jonathan Taylor | IND | DEN |
| 9 | Kyren Williams | LAR | @TEN |
| 10 | De’Von Achane | MIA | NE |
| 11 | Josh Jacobs | GB | WAS |
| 12 | James Cook | BUF | @NYJ |
| 13 | Ashton Jeanty | LV | LAC |
| 14 | Breece Hall | NYJ | BUF |
| 15 | Travis Etienne | JAX | @CIN |
| 16 | James Conner | ARI | CAR |
| 17 | Omarion Hampton | LAC | @LV |
| 18 | Chuba Hubbard | CAR | @ARI |
| 19 | Tony Pollard | TEN | LAR |
| 20 | Alvin Kamara | NO | SF |
| 21 | Javonte Williams | DAL | NYG |
| 22 | David Montgomery | DET | CHI |
| 23 | D’Andre Swift | CHI | @DET |
| 24 | J.K. Dobbins | DEN | @IND |
| 25 | Nick Chubb | HOU | TB |
| 26 | Jacory Croskey-Merritt | WAS | @GB |
| 27 | Jordan Mason | MIN | ATL |
| 28 | Jaylen Warren | PIT | SEA |
| 29 | Zach Charbonnet | SEA | @PIT |
| 30 | TreVeyon Henderson | NE | @MIA |
| 31 | Aaron Jones | MIN | ATL |
| 32 | Isiah Pacheco | KC | PHI |
| 33 | Kenneth Walker III | SEA | @PIT |
| 34 | Dylan Sampson | CLE | @BAL |
| 35 | Austin Ekeler | WAS | @GB |
| 36 | RJ Harvey | DEN | @IND |
| 37 | Tyrone Tracy | NYG | @DAL |
| 38 | Braelon Allen | NYJ | BUF |
| 39 | Rhamondre Stevenson | NE | @MIA |
| 40 | Brian Robinson Jr. | SF | @NO |
| 41 | Trey Benson | ARI | CAR |
| 42 | Tyler Allgeier | ATL | @MIN |
| 43 | Kareem Hunt | KC | PHI |
| 44 | DJ Giddens | IND | DEN |
| 45 | Kenneth Gainwell | PIT | SEA |
| 46 | Najee Harris | LAC | @LV |
| 47 | Rico Dowdle | CAR | @ARI |
| 48 | Cam Skattebo | NYG | @DAL |
| 49 | Rachaad White | TB | @HOU |
| 50 | Quinshon Judkins | CLE | @BAL |
| 51 | Kendre Miller | NO | SF |
| 52 | Ray Davis | BUF | @NYJ |
| 53 | Bhayshul Tuten | JAX | @CIN |
| 54 | Kyle Monangai | CHI | @DET |
| 55 | Ollie Gordon | MIA | NE |
| 56 | Justice Hill | BAL | CLE |
| 57 | Kaleb Johnson | PIT | SEA |
| 58 | Tyler Badie | DEN | @IND |
| 59 | Miles Sanders | DAL | NYG |
| 60 | Jerome Ford | CLE | @BAL |
| 61 | Jeremy McNichols | WAS | @GB |
| 62 | Tank Bigsby | PHI | @KC |
| 63 | Roschon Johnson | CHI | @DET |
| 64 | Brashard Smith | KC | PHI |
| 65 | Julius Chestnut | TEN | LAR |
RB Notes: Christian McCaffrey was horribly inefficient in Week 1, but as is the case any time he’s active, he took as many touches as he could handle. With seemingly the entire rest of the team now hurt, CMC will threaten for the weekly touches crown as long as he can stay on the field. … Handling every snap in the first half against the Dolphins, Jonathan Taylor gave way to DJ Giddens late. Taylor appeared to tweak his neck, but he is thankfully absent from the Week 2 injury report. Fantasy managers can assume that was just the Colts getting rookie Giddens some much needed playing time in a blowout. … De’Von Achane dominated running back snaps and touches in the Dolphins’ Week 1 implosion. Even if you presume the team would like to get rookie Ollie Gordon II more involved, Achane is an obvious Week 2 positive regression candidate even in what is looking like one of the league’s worst offenses. … Trey Benson reached 33 percent of the Cardinals’ snaps for just the second time in his short career Sunday. For his part, James Conner was at 65.2 percent, which actually paces ahead of his 2024 rate. Maybe Benson will actually be more involved this year. Conner is still more than involved enough to keep him in the RB2 ranks.
Ashton Jeanty looked powerful on his three-yard touchdown run against the Patriots, but extremely sluggish moving side to side. So it’s not surprising then that NextGenStats charted him as averaging -1.08 rush yards over expected. That’s an awful number. It’s also a one-game sample size. Jeanty will hope for better returns in what should be a more wide-open game with the Chargers. … Speaking of the Bolts, their first-round running back appeared rather sluggish in Week 1, as well. In fact, Omarion Hampton exited the week with a horrendous -25 rush yards over expected. Hampton simply looked stiff. The good news is he was in complete control of the Chargers’ backfield, with Najee Harris playing 12 total snaps. That number will obviously go up, but Hampton is in a strong spot for a Week 2 do-over on his unimpressive debut. … Travis Etienne was one of the stories of Week 1. No one, for instance, produced more rush yards over expected. Even if you remove his 71-yard rumble, Etienne managed 72 yards on 15 totes (4.8 YPC). Although it’s always tempting to “it’s just one game” weird things this time of year, Etienne’s performance was evidently convincing enough for the Jags to trade Tank Bigsby one day later. Rookie Bhayshul Tuten will see change-of-pace work at some point, but Etienne has immediately vaulted into the top 18 at running back.
D’Andre Swift handled 80.1 percent of the Bears’ Week 1 snaps. That would have been his highest percentage of 2024. This being Swift, he did very little with the work. Coach Ben Johnson has also said he would like to see rookie Kyle Monangai more involved. Nevertheless, the thesis of the Swift RB2 play — that there was simply no one else to give the ball to in the Bears’ backfield — appears to be coming true. … We didn’t know what to expect from the Broncos’ Week 1 backfield. We still weren’t expecting that. Tyler Badie made J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey’s committee a three-man deal instead of two. Dobbins barely exceeded 50 percent of the snaps, with Harvey checking in south of 30. Badie approached 20, mostly handling passing downs. Harvey, unsurprisingly, had the biggest play with a 50-yard run, but fantasy managers should expect Denver uncertainty for several more weeks to come. Dobbins is a floor-based FLEX, with Harvey a big-play based RB3/4. … The Browns backfield … I don’t know. I’m guessing Quinshon Judkins sits one more week, making fellow rookie Dylan Sampson a strong FLEX play.
The Texans employed a similar approach to the Broncos, with Nick Chubb checking in just north of a 50 percent snap share. The dreaded Dare Ogunbowale was on the field a quarter of the time, with Dameon Pierce and Woody Marks mopping up for the remaining 20. Unlike Denver, only one back is playable here, and that’s Chubb. … After getting Brian Robinson Jr. traded, Jacory Croskey-Merritt got Chris Rodriguez made a healthy scratch. So it was surprising when he proceeded to handle only 33 percent of the Commanders’ snaps. Thankfully for fantasy managers, he turned his 10 carries into 82 yards and a touchdown. Despite that limited workload, JCM was third in the league in rush yards over expected with 39. Everyone associated with the Commanders came away happy with the performance. Hopefully, 33 percent is something of a baseline, and JCM can get closer to 50 going forward. … For his part, Austin Ekeler continues to look like the poor man’s version of … Austin Ekeler. Nothing fancy. A few important carries. Just enough targets. He’s a mediocre PPR FLEX.
The summer Kenneth Walker III vibes never felt quite right, and the strangeness was confirmed against the 49ers. In a game that came down to the absolute wire, Zach Charbonnet out-snapped and out-carried his backfield mate. Strange things happen in one game sample sizes, but strange things have been happening with KWIII for weeks now. This really could be a Charbonnet takeover in the making. … Although Aaron Jones made one of the biggest plays of the game against the Bears, upstart trade addition Jordan Mason indeed won the snaps and carries wars. He was also far more effective as a rusher. I see little reason to rank Jones ahead of Mason unless the veteran demonstrates a five-catch weekly floor, which is admittedly in the range of outcomes. … Patriots coach Mike Vrabel has understandably vowed to run the ball more in Week 2. Hopefully that means more touches for second-rounder TreVeyon Henderson, who had more Week 1 pep in his step than Rhamondre Stevenson. Henderson does need more creative passing-game usage after OC Josh McDaniels opted mostly for simple dump-offs vs. Seattle.
